Aldi announce opening date for proposed Wetherby store

Aldi has announced that work on the proposed Wetherby store will begin in 2015, with a view to opening in early 2016.

The announcement comes after Leeds City Council (LCC) plans panel met to discuss the plans and said they would be signed off by planning officers if certain conditions are met.

Known as a section 106 agreement, these include 67,354 towards public transport infrastructure and £10,000 towards the improvement of bus stops.

An Aldi spokesman said: “Aldi is delighted that its plans received so much local support, including no objection from Wetherby Town Council and 169 individual letters of support particularly regarding the improved local shopping choice and new employment opportunities Aldi’s proposal would deliver.

“Discussion are on-going between Aldi and LCC regarding the section 106 agreement. Once this is agreed planning permission will be granted and Aldi will commence building work on site.

“Construction is currently scheduled to commence in 2015 with the new store anticipated to be completed and open by early 2016.”

Before the plans reached this late stage, several changes were made in consultation with the public,including changing the outside of the store from white render to brick, in-keeping with the character of surrounding buildings, which the budget supermarket said is a much better alternative to the metal clad building currently on the site on Sandbeck Lane.

The plans, first displayed at a public exhibition in November 2013, have also been altered to increase the distance between the store and neighbouring properties, and the existing boundary hedge will also be maintained as a whole to screen surrounding properties from the store.

The Mayor of Wetherby Harry Chapmanwelcomed the amendments, which are a result of Aldi’s attempts to address local concerns raised during the planning process.

He said: “We think making the changes they have is a good move from Aldi. They have also moved the store back a bit further from the houses to maintain the hedge because people there were concerned about wildlife, so they were happy and certainly what Aldi has proposed has been positive.

“As a town most people have said they would like to see it. LCC had 169 people saying they wanted it and eight or nine saying they didn’t and they were the people who lived close to it.

“We have had one or two comments about it bringing the town down, but Aldi is an upcoming thing now. It has been positively received.”

Aldi has agreed that its two HGV deliveries a day, together with two smaller deliveries of bread and milk, will only operate between 7am and 11pm. Highways improvements include a pelican crossing on Deighton Road, a mini-round-about at theSandbeck Lane Deighton Road junction, and a footway along the Sandbeck Lane frontage.